A Happy Memory
by Shapeless Heart
Summary: Draco wants to learn how to produce a Patronus. And the only person that can help him is without a doubt Hermione Granger.  K  for swearing, and you may consider a small OOC for Hermione, who has problems with the Patronus charm in the books. Not here :D
1. Chapter 1

**A/N :** This was written for a Draco/Hermione contest. The prompt was "Hermione teaches Draco the Patronus charm."

I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter, of course. God knows what I would have done if ever I did own them.

oOo

Draco glanced unobtrusively to the Gryffindor's table. There she was, sitting with her friends, chatting with Potty and Weasel-Bee. All he could see was her back. It was well enough, though. The thought that he was possibly going to pass weeks with her for something that he was not even sure he was in need to learn basically horrified him. He could not believe himself. It was, without any doubt, the most horrible thing he ever thought he would do. Asking Granger to… He was not even dare to think the word. _Help._ Shivers ran down his spine. He did not even have already asked her. But he was going to ask Granger to _help_ him. He swallowed. He must have shown a very special face – maybe something between contempt, distaste, and horror – because Pansy was looking at him with a worried look.

"Something's wrong, Draco ?" She asked, with a tone of voice that reminded Draco of his mother.

He sighed, and it sounded like he was infuriated. Maybe he was, actually. "No, everything is _fine_, Pansy, _thank you_."

Yes, he obviously was.

Hermione sighed, lighthearted. This was obviously going to be one of those wonderful days when time passes slowly and where everything felt fine, where you could enjoy every little moment of peace and joy ; one of those wonderful days without any problems showing up.

"What makes you smile so much, Hermione ?" Asked Harry.

She blushed slightly. "Well, I don't know. It's just that it feels good to be together, on such a beautiful day."

Harry and Ron smiled, as well as Ginny and Neville. Even if troubles were anyway going to happen, on that sixth term beginning, they truly felt a warm-hearted feeling. Hermione was even more pleased to see that Harry was smiling, even though he had lost another family member the previous year. Maybe he was just acting like he was happy, but she really hoped that Ron and her could do something to make him feel right again.

Ron, who was sitting right in front of Hermione, stared at the Slytherin table, and the smile that he was wearing a few seconds ago had disappeared from his face.

"The Ferret is staring at us." He said, scowling.

"He is probably just – up to no good, don't mind him, Ronald." Hermione gently begged.

She did not want her day to be ruined by this obnoxious prat. She was going to have a perfect day with her friend and everything was going to be wonderful and –

"Wait. He's standing up. Oh no. I think he is coming straight at us." Announced Ron, and she could see his knuckles going white as he clenched his fists.

"Ronald, calm down, there's no need to – "

Ron stood up, his ears turning to a crimson red. Hermione ducked her head, disappointed. Harry placed one's hand on her shoulder, feeling sorry for her. She knew, from that moment on, that her day was going to be mucked up.

oOo

"What are you doing here, Malfoy ?" Weasley asked.

Draco sighed. It was almost a shame that they were not friends. Thus, he would have simply come to us and asked something and they would have talked about it and there would have been no fuss _at all_. The fact that there was a mutual hatred between them made the thing a lot harder. But anyway, he did not wanted to be friend with anyone at their table. _Stupid Gryffindors_.

"Calm down, Weasley. _I'm coming in peace_." He smirked.

There was a brief moment of silent, where everyone was holding their breath.

"How could you come in peace, Ferret ? Go back to the Slytherin's table and leave us alone, for once." The ginger-head boy said between gritted teeth.

"I'm coming for the Bookworm." The blond calmly replied, looking at Hermione.

The latter gave a discreet start, before turning on the bench where she was sitting.

"What do you want ?" Hermione inquired coldly. "If ever it's another stupid joke of yours, you're going to regret it." She warned, glaring at him.

"This is no way near a joke, Granger. Come with me, I must talk to you for a second."

He put one's hand on her arm, but she freed herself from his hold.

"I'm going nowhere Malfoy." Hermione said, giving him a black look.

They held each other's gaze during a few seconds. Hermione could feel the looks of her friends on her back, while all of this was happening in front of them. Draco grinned at her.

"Well. Then, you won't know what I want from you." He said before turning his back on them.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, walking quite fast after him. _How unbearable this boy could be_.

"Okay ! What the heck do you want ?" She asked, irritated.

Draco turned around to face her, and a smirk grew slowly on his lips.

oOo

"Are you effing kidding me, Malfoy ?" Hermione almost yelled after he asked her.

Draco stared at her with pleading eyes. Her reaction had been predictable, of course. But honestly, he expected more understanding from her.

"No need to be rude, Granger." He answered, sighing. "This is not a walk in the park for me too. You don't know how much it cost me to ask you this."

"Oh ! I would love to know !" She told him sarcastically.

"Well, it cost me my honor. And you have to know that it is quite substantial." He replied with a smirk.

She glared at him, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her day was indeed completely ruined. It only took a minute, but it went faster than the speed of sound. She was utterly exasperated, and it was saying the least.

"Anyway, why would you need to learn such a thing ? First, it is a very complicated charm, and second – well, WHY ? Honestly, I don't understand !"

She did not have the guts to ask him if it was a common thing to learn how to produce a Patronus when one was a death-eater-to-be. It would have started a fight between them, and it was not something she was able to deal with on the very moment. As for Draco, he did not really thought about the reasons why he felt the need to learn how to produce a Patronus. Thereby, he answered what came first in his mind.

"I'll give bitches a Patronus. Bitches love Patronus."

Hermione slapped him on the back of his head.

"Outch !" He exclaimed, outraged. "How come you dare have such an intimate gesture with me ?" He asked, while rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Because all you say is bullshit, Malfoy." Hermione snapped.

He gave her a lamenting look. She rolled her eyes, arms still crossed over her chest, looking like a mother who'd just caught her child doing something she forbid him to do.

"You could have asked Harry." She said, weirdly calm. "He taught us to realize this charm last year."

To Hermione, it sounded obvious. To Draco, it sounded crazy.

"Are you out of your mind, Granger ?" He inquired. "Potter ? Honestly ? It would have been worse with him. He would have answered "no" straight away. I didn't even bother to ask him."

"The fact that Harry would have answered "no" doesn't mean I am going to answer "yes", Malfoy." She flung, before walking back to the Great Hall.

Draco ran to her and grabbed her arm.

"So you won't teach me ?" He asked, and she could see a sincere disappointment in his eyes.

And without anymore gesture, she replied : "I will. I will teach you all you need to know about the Patronus charm." And she walked back to the Gryffindor's table.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, Malfoy." Hermione said. "Let's get rid of this. It will be fast, and effective." She added, even if she knew that it was going to take time before Draco could produce a Patronus.

Draco followed Hermione in the middle of the Room of Requirement. She had chosen the exact place where the Dumbledore's Army was training the previous year. It was the middle of the night. They had sneak out of their dormitories, and met on the 7th floor, in front of the tapestry where, behind it, the Room was hidden.

"So… What am I supposed to do ?" The Slytherin asked. "You seemed to pretend that this was not easy as pie. Is it true ?"

Hermione took a moment to think about which words she should use to explain to him the whole thing. She ran her fingers through her bushy hair, giving a quick glance to the floor, before looking back to Draco who was standing two meters from her.

"It's… You have to think about the happiest memory you have. It requires a lot of energy. You might be tired after a while."

He nodded slightly, listening carefully to every word she was saying. It was the first time that he was paying that much attention during a "class".

"You must give away everything else, and let this memory flood in your body."

Draco was staring at her. She sighed, and she did not really know which kind of sigh it was, and why she had sighed.

"Close your eyes Malfoy. It will be a lot easier to concentrate."

He complied, and started to excogitate about which memory he should chose. The room was filled with silence. He did not even heard the breathing of Hermione, or even his own. He took a long inspiration.

"You're done ? Okay, now, open your eyes, and say "_Expecto Patronum_". Be as convincing as possible."

Draco opened his eyes, and stared at the room in front of him. The voice of the bushy-haired girl came behind his back. "Don't mind me, Malfoy. Just go on."

He breathed in and out, and pointed his wand in front of him. He had nothing he was supposed to fight. It was a bit disturbing to point his wand at an empty room.

"_Expecto Patronum_ !" He said frankly.

Nothing happened. He felt stupid, and already annoyed.

"With more conviction, Malfoy !" Hermione exclaimed.

He frowned, and almost yelled. "_Expecto Patronum_ !"

Nothing happened. He sighed, and turned around to face Hermione.

"It doesn't work." He announced with a blank voice.

"Indeed." Hermione replied. "What memory did you choose ?" She inquired.

He pouted. "When the Sorting Hat told me I was in Slytherin."

Hermione shook her head, looking concentrate.

"It's not enough. Plus, it seems obvious. No one was expecting you from going in another House, anyway."

Draco nodded. It cost him another piece of self-esteem to admit that Granger was right.

"You have to think about something way more… strong." She said, staring at him from across the room, her arms crossed over her chest, small golden sparks emerging from the tip of her wand as she was doing gestures with her wrist.

"Easier said than done ; It's not like I have a whole bunch of happy memories, you know." Draco said gloomily.

Hermione felt a small pressure from under her chest.

"Er, yes, I… I'm sorry. I did not think… I -"

He cut her off. "Don't worry."

Seconds flew by in an awkward silence. After what seemed ages, Draco clapped one's hands.

"Well ! I think I'm done for tonight. I must rest a bit, in order to find a better memory tomorrow. 'Night, Granger !"

He started to walk to the door, but was interrupted by Hermione.

"To - Tomorrow ?" She stammered.

Draco chuckled, and turned around to face her.

"Of course, Granger ! What were you thinking ? That I was going to give up after one failure ?"

Hermione blushed slightly. "Hum, kind of…" She muttered.

The blond smirked. "You won't get rid of me that easier, Granger. See you tomorrow."

While walking back to their dormitories, they thought over the first training they had that night. Hermione was pleasantly surprised by Draco's behavior, who had not been rude to her for half a hour, and that was saying something. As for Draco, the Know-It-All wasn't that insufferable, after all. For both of them, the conclusion was that perhaps it was not going to be that awful to be all alone in the same place for a few times. Not that they were ready to get used to it. Oh no ; Merlin knew, they were not.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed since the first training. Each night, Draco and Hermione met on the 7th floor, and each time, they expected that this would be the last training they had to do, but Draco could not seem to find a memory good enough to create a Patronus. He had tried, though. They had almost got one when he had thought about his parents and him doing shopping and eating ice-creams down Diagon Alley. Hermione had a lot of troubles imagining the Malfoy family, especially Lucius Malfoy, eating ice-creams.

Most of the time, he just got annoyed by Hermione telling him that his memories were shitty – she did not say they were shitty, but to him, it was the same thing – and he started to thought about something that made him utterly happy when it happened – like when Weasley threw slugs up in second term, or when Potter got attacked by Dementors in third term – and even if it was still not enough, telling Hermione what he had thought and seeing her reaction was memorable. They eventually started to argue, but it never lasted long.

Once, nevertheless, they had a huge fight about the lack of efforts of Draco. He had called her a Mudblood – it was a slip of the tongue, he could swear. She did not show up for two nights.

oOo

"If ever I do not succeed tonight, let's say that all of this is over. Okay ?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded. She was facing him from across the room. She could see his hand gripping his wand, and his knuckles going white as he gripped tighter and tighter. His eyes were closed. He frowned slightly. A blur appeared slowly in his mind. He saw a slight smile, and then, a lock of brown, bushy-hair. Then, he could see someone lending him a helping hand. His eyes suddenly widen, and he yelled the spell.

A silver wave escaped from the tip of his wand, and slowly turned into a stately wolf. The beast was breathtaking. It walked a moment around Draco, acquainting itself with its wizard. The Slytherin was not daring to make a move. From the other side of the Room, Hermione was staring at the scene, motionless too.

The wolf walked back in front of its "owner". It sat, and started to howl, in the middle of the silent Room, before it faded away. There was a brief silence between the two students. Hermione walked straight to Draco and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently.

"You did it Dra – Malfoy !" She mumbled.

She was wearing one of her most beautiful smile. Hermione felt a common feeling of pride bursting from inside her chest. She was proud of him, and of course, of herself. Draco glanced at her hand in his, before looking back at Hermione with a slight smile.

"Yes. I did it."

Hermione let go of his hand, a bit disturbed by her own gesture, and stare at him, still wearing her smile.

"What did you think about ?" She asked, thrilled.

Draco hesitated. He was not sure it was a good idea to tell her that he had thought about her.

"Well, I… I thought about…"

He felt stupid to be that disturbed because of her. She was the stupid little Mudblood, was not she ?

"You." He announced with a blank voice. "I thought about… you."

Hermione took a step backwards, and felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"M – Me ?" She mumbled. "Why ?" She inquired, practically dying from embarrassment.

"I don't know !" Draco exclaimed. "If it reassures you, I don't know myself !"

They both felt awkward. He could not think about her as the happiest memory he had. It was not possible.

"You don't have – even, like – the tiniest bit of an explanation, don't you ?" She stammered again. "Because I think it would be useful, huh ?"

Her eyes met his as she looked up from the floor.

"Well…" He began.

Draco was not even sure if he wanted to know why the only thing that could make his Patronus appeared was Hermione Granger. It was unhealthy. It was beyond madness. But he had to admit that something was actually making its way to his brain, so he could explain what was going on.

"I think – I think it had something to do with the fact that you are the first person that had ever helped me. That had ever paid attention to me, not because I am Draco Malfoy, but because I… I needed attention."

Hermione stood still. They held each other's gaze for a moment. She could not believe how much he was confessing to her on that very moment. It was unbelievable.

"And why – why did you choose me ? To teach you this ?" She asked. Maybe it was asking too much of him, but if it was the moment of truth, it was also the moment to ask the good questions.

"Because you were the only Gryffindor I knew who could be generous and nice enough to pay no heed to prejudices and smart enough to teach me something." He said, making her understood that it was plain as day.

"Okay." She replied softly.

They stood there during a few seconds, and Draco finally started to walk back to the door of the Room of Requirement.

"Malfoy !" Hermione called.

He turned his head to the side, so he would be able to hear what she had to say.

"Last question, before we go back to our normal lives. In which case will you use the Patronus ?"

He thought for a second, before answering.

"If ever I lost myself in the dark." He said with a genuine voice. "Goodnight, Granger."

**A/N :** I have chosen the wolf for Draco because I think it suits him very well, not because it is a beautiful beast, and so is Draco. (hahaha)

The wolf is a very mysterious creature, and is also unapproachable. I truly think that Draco can't be completely known by the people surrounding him. Plus, the wolf is very protective with its family, and Draco wanted to protect his parents from the wrath of Voldemort in HBP. Well, I think it explains it all…

I hope you enjoyed this short story, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review ! 3

_Shapeless Heart_


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